Inmost cases, protocols in the field of medicine indicate the procedures or content, etc. of studies performed using modalities such as an X-ray computed tomography (CT) device, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device, or an ultrasonic image diagnosis device. Conventionally, protocols for medical studies (examinations) were created by operators with specialized knowledge. In recent years, techniques that support creating protocols by a computer (protocol editor), or create protocols automatically are known.
Protocols are preferably designed to meticulous detail in accordance with a wide variety of elements such as symptoms, clinical conditions, age, and sex of a subject. Therefore, the matter of pursuing information sharing between modalities has been discussed by transferring a protocol management function embedded in the modality to a server device. Such technique will, for example, allow imaging protocols with clinically the same meaning to be easily applied in different modalities, or to easily realize sharing or correcting the imaging protocols between technicians.
However, a technique for allowing protocols to be designed also in consideration of the characteristics of each subject has been unknown.